Shades of Grey
by Blizzaris
Summary: A life without love is like a world without colour. Everything is just shades of grey. --DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE--
1. Prologue

OMG OMG OMG MY FIRST FIC! XD YAYYY! PLEEEEEAAAAASE review! I shall love you forever if you do! Seriously…O.o… so YA! My love is currency sought the world over :P That was from some movie I think… or something like that! I don't know lol. Anyways, I was never a reviewer, but then when I wrote my fic I realized how much I want ppl to review mine, so now I review like everything lol! FIRST 10 PPL TO REVIEW GET A…..uh… looks around for something…. HUG FROM YOURS TRULY! You know you want it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But someone does…shifty eyes

So without further ado… MY FIC!

Shades of Grey

"A life without love… is like… a world without colour." It was her mother's favourite simile. "Yeah… without love, everything is just shades of grey." She smiled down at her daughter, pale grey eyes wide. At least the 4-year old girl said it was her mother's favourite. She never got to ask her if it was or not.

It was a blissful summer's night. The 4 year old girl was lying on the grass outside their modest home, looking at the bright stars with her straight, graphite-coloured hair splayed around her. Her parents were inside, when the girl heard her mother scream. Concerned, she raced inside the house to where she saw her mother sobbing over the limp form of her husband in the middle of the room. A pool of blood was slowly soaking into the soft carpet. The young girl just watched, transfixed, at the doorway. Her mother had her back to the hallways, not seeing her child.

"Why! How could you take my love away like this?" Tears streaming down her kind face and shouting these questions of to the ceiling, the middle-aged woman distractedly looked around the living room for something. Finding it, the girl saw her mother ram the object into her chest repeatedly. After a few moments, her mother quieted to a whimper, then fell onto her side, warm blood seeping from several deep wounds and the tears finally stopping.

Not comprehending, the young girl took a few tentative steps forward.

"Mommy? Daddy? What are you doing on the ground like that?" she inquired, her undeveloped mind still being absent of extreme emotions like grief. By this change of angle, the child could see what her mother had grabbed. It was a dagger, concealed under her father's clothes. Still not understanding the situation, the little girl walked from the room, slightly mystified. She kept going until she reached her neighbour's house. When the door was answered, she calmly told the young lady what had taken place.

"They're just lying on the floor, fast asleep. They won't answer me; maybe you can wake them up." At this, her neighbour froze, an expression of fear creeping across her face. She dashed from the doorway and ran into the living room of the young girl. Upon seeing the bodies, she screamed, horrified, and ran back to her own home, shouting to her husband to call a medic. Soon, a medical ninja appeared beside the young girl, who had wandered back to stand beside her parents, looking slightly bemused.

"Miss. Medic, can you do anything? They won't wake up…" The medic flashed her a quick, sympathetic smile.

"I'm going to take them to the hospital. You should stay with your neighbours for now," the adult in a white robe told her. The child nodded and walked back to the house next door, where the young wife was crying in her husband's arms, an expression of sorrow upon his face. He saw the grey-haired child and nudged his wife. She looked up and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. She then offered a cookie to the girl with a watery smile. The young child accepted it, her face expressionless as she mused over what she had seen.

After some time had passed, the same medical ninja appeared in their kitchen with a little puff of smoke, and told them the news.

"The man was taken out by throwing needles. These must have been thrown through the windows behind him if he was sitting in the armchair. Judging from the position he was in when found, this seems to be correct," the medic explained to the young couple in a low voice. The girl had to strain a little to hear, but she did catch what was being said. "The woman's case was suicide. That was evident enough. She stabbed herself 6 times in the chest with a dagger." When the medic left, the child quietly asked the young lady,

"Where are Mommy and Daddy now? Are they coming back home?" Even though she had heard the medical ninja's words, she did not fully understand their implications, like any 4-year old would. The woman took in a shaky breath, exchanging looks with her husband.

"They've just gone away for a while. You can stay with us until they come back." The couple were kind people, and had been friends with the young girl's family since they had moved in. The girl agreed to live with them. After all, she was still too young to run a home by herself.


	2. Exam info

**CHAPPY TWO! Yay! Okay, very sorry for the late update – been having a busy summer! Alright I PROMISE that next chapter we'l finally be getting to the Anbu entrance exam! Woot! Alright, so here we go!**

**Disclaimer: Oh right, this guy… well I actually own all the characters in this story up until this point, but not Konoha. Oh, I also own her house and her little village. Wow, I seem to own more than the author of this anime at this point… interesting…**

Years passed, and the girl flourished in the benevolent nature of the couple's home. When she turned 5, the young girl started learning the art of being a ninja with a middle-aged man in her village. He used to be a shinobi, and was relatively well known. He taught her the basics of jutsus and chakra, and the girl found her specialty in taijutsu and jutsus that strengthened her hand-to-hand combat, but learned some ninjutsus, medical jutsus and genjutsus as well. At the age of 9, she passed the Chuunin exams held in the nearby village of Konoha. Even though she came from a small village, the Hokage had let her enter, and she proved her right, stunning all the spectators with her aggressive and quick attacks. Drawing out a battle only increased the chance of losing.

When the girl had just turned 10, she decided to move back into her own home, which was previously occupied by her and her parents. She had often gone back to her home on weekends and cleaned, preparing for when she would once again live in the house. The bloodstained rug had long ago been replaced with hardwood, but otherwise, the house itself was unchanged. The couple she had lived with were sad to see her go but didn't worry too much about her ability to keep the house alone. They had taught her to cook, clean, mend clothes and other essentials as well. They knew that one day she would want to live in her old home again.

The village she lived in was small and quaint. The tragedy of her parent's deaths had spread all over, and she was known to all. After all, she_ had_ achieved her jounin licence at the young age of 13. She was a good girl, but there was something almost unnerving about her that no one could really place. It was possibly due to the events that had happened almost a decade ago now, and some credited it to the lack of having any other relatives. It also may have been that she had experienced emotional trauma before her emotions had fully developed, halting their growth. She seemed… emotionally dead. She never laughed, cried, got angry or expressed anything else a growing child would.

To her, emotions truly puzzled her. What was the point of them? They had no use, so why did they exist? Love bewildered her especially. Her parents had loved each other, or so she had heard. So why, _why_, were they dead because of it? "_A life without love is like a world without colour. Without love, everything is just shades of grey_." That was what her mother had personally told her. So why was she dead? This 'love' was supposed to be a great thing. She had heard it was like having wings, having every wish fulfilled. So had her mother wished to die? She never thought so. Her mother had been a kind soul, always smiling. She was not someone who wanted to die. So then, why? Her experience of love so far was negative. It only caused pain, like it did for her parents. These thought often occupied her mind. One particular night like this, she sighed, putting another dish back in the cupboard. Thinking of feelings wasn't getting her anywhere.

Today, her master told her about the Anbu entrance exams. The Anbu were a selected group of elite ninjas that carry out dangerous missions for the nearby village of Konoha. He said that she had improved enough, and believed that she could pass. She had wanted to be one when she saw them at the Chuunin exams. They were experts in battle and professionals at what they did. She looked forward to joining them.

The next day, she made the half day's journey into the big village and sought out Anbu headquarters. She was told what was needed for the exam, and filled out a form which enrolled her in the test. It was going to be a practical exam, where they are given a simulated mission, complete with enemy shinobis and other obstacles. You were put in a platoon of four and your actions were observed throughout the exam. Her exam was to take place in a month, on the 26th of June. She was told to show up at the headquarters at dawn to start her mission.

For a month, dawn until dusk, she trained; improving her endurance, strength and speed. She had left her teacher – he had taught her all he could. Finally, the day before the exam came. Packing all the things she thought she needed for the exam into a small pack, she strapped her large katana onto her back and exited her house. Taking a deep breath, she started out through the trees toward Konoha. Half a day later she arrived, checking into a hotel and enjoying the sights of the village. It was a fact to not study or work too hard the day before an exam. She went to bed tired and slept the whole night through without a dream. But that was normal. She had never dreamed before. She couldn't even say she knew what a dream was.

**That was chapter two! Hope you liked it! REVIEW PLEASE! You know that little purple button down there? No, not that one, the _other_ one… yes, that one. Well press it and you may make me very happy… **


	3. ANBU entrance exam Part 1

An hour before dawn she awoke. She re-packed all her things into her bag and checked out of the hotel. Getting her bearings in the pre-dawn light, she set off towards the Anbu headquarters. She arrived a little early. Coming to a short Anbu wearing a dog mask, she was told to sign in on a clipboard with her name, age and sex. She filled in the columns and passed through to a waiting room where she saw one other ninja, a girl, wearing a pale pink ¾ length sleeve dress lined with red that fell to her knees, sitting on a bench. In a cloth belt she wore were several different coloured scrolls and her dark brown hair was plaited into two braids hanging past her shoulders. She seemed nervous. Within a few more minutes, two other ninjas showed up. One was a tall, strong-looking man with jet black hair, spiked at the back. He wore a high, broad necked deep blue shirt and black shorts with a mesh suit underneath that could be seen on his arms and legs. On his back he carried a huge shuriken; half his height. He stood to the side and surveyed the room coolly. The last shinobi to walk into the room was a smaller man wrapped in bandages which covered his whole right arm and half his left and went down to his mid-calf. Over these were a Chuunin vest and knee-length dark red shorts and a holster tied to his left leg. A shock of fire-red hair was tied in a short ponytail at the back of his head.

Dawn had just barely risen when a slender Anbu wearing a ram mask came through the door and addressed the four ninjas.

"Thank you for arriving on time. I trust you four are Tenten, Lei, Uchiha Sasuke and Ichimaru Shouri?" The four nodded. "Good. Your mission today will be to retrieve a scroll containing a secretive new jutsu that could cause great damage in the enemy's hands. Bring it back as swiftly as possible. This scroll contains the finer details. Even though this may be a simulation, the dangers are not. Begin immediately." She handed the scroll to the closest shinobi, the man in blue. As he took it, she exited through the same door she entered through. The man opened the scroll, scanned its contents then tossed it to the man with the red hair. Fumbling with it, he managed to not drop it as the black-haired man just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, since we're all in this mission together, we might as well learn each other's names," he announced in his low, confident voice as the scroll was passed around. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke." He then looked expectantly at the ninja in red. Catching his drift, the man in red told the other three his name. His voice was anxious and he spoke very quickly, slurring his words together slightly.

"I'm Ichimaru Shouri."

"I am Tenten," the brown-haired girl informed them in her light voice.

"My name is Lei," the girl in grey told them expressionlessly.

"Could we say a little about ourse-"

"No. Let's just start the mission as soon as possible. Time for long introductions is time wasted." Sasuke interrupted Shouri in an impatient and almost bored voice. The red-haired shinobi looked disappointed. '_I bet he even had something planned…_' Lei thought.

"We need a leader for the mission. Anyone have any preferences?" the cold voice asked. Shouri opened his mouth, about to speak, when the Uchiha cut him off. "Okay, I suppose I will then. Our first move should be to scout out their hideout deep in the southern forest and gather more information. We will travel in a group until we are closer to the base." With that, they turned and followed the taller shinobi out the door. They were soon speeding through the forest, on their way to retrieving the scroll and becoming Anbu's.

Lei could see that they would most likely be travelling for a while, so she decided to learn a bit more about her other members. Moving a little closer to Shouri as they bounded through the trees, she inquired about their leader, Sasuke.

"Do you know Sasuke-san very well? He seemed a little harsh back there when a leader was chosen." She _had_ noticed how the black-haired man had cut off the other before he had a chance to say anything. Shouri wrinkled his nose into a small sneer.

"Yeah. We were in the Academy together," he explained in his fast voice. "Just because he's thought of as a prodigy, coming from the Uchiha clan, he thinks he's better than everyone else. He's really just a stuck-up prick, although he is quite strong when he's in his element. What he really needs is someone to stand up against him since he's never really had proper discipline. He's just too proud." Lei could hear how her fellow team mate spat out the name Uchiha, but, not being from Konoha, had never heard of this clan before.

"Uchiha? I've never heard of them," at a slightly startled look from Shouri, she added, "I come from a small village outside of Konoha. News from the bigger villages is rare," she explained. He nodded.

"That's understandable. The Uchihas are a prestigious clan of Konoha that have the bloodline limit of the Sharingan. It allows them to copy any jutsu and sometimes 'foretell' the future. Anyways, there are only 2 Uchihas left; our leader and his brother Itachi. Years ago, Sasuke's older brother slaughtered the whole clan, save for Sasuke."

"Must've been hard on him," she said expressionlessly. Something about the way she said it made Shouri look at her sharply. '_That was so… cold and unsympathetic. Just like he would say it_,' He thought to himself.

They travelled the rest of the way in silence. Around mid-afternoon they halted as a hairline crack in the rock face of a cliff was barely distinguishable.

"We're here," Sasuke needlessly announced as his voice took on a new, no-fooling-around tone. However, Shouri had his suspicions.

"Are you sure this is the place? The information scroll only told us it was in the southern part of the forest. Maybe we should scout a little furth-"

"No. If we scouted any father, we would only be losing precious time. This is the place," came the flinty, no-nonsense answer from their leader. Shouri narrowed his eyes slightly in annoyance. Lei noticed.

"I'm sure he meant no harm in suggesting that we be 100 sure." Lei's reprimand was equally as stony as Sasuke's. Shouri flashed her a startled, then grateful look. Sasuke sneered slightly, but stayed quiet. While they waited for the leader's signal to approach, Shouri continued looking at Lei, making her feel a little uncomfortable. After a few minutes, he turned back to the cliff.

"Okay. We'll keep watching the hideout for any movement. Then, when it gets dark and I give the signal, Shouri will make a bunshin and slip inside. He will then find a way to silently open the door so no one knows we're here," Sasuke ordered, turning his dark eyes on Shouri the way one would sternly look at a dog as if forcing it to obey. Shouri averted his eyes from the glare as they al nodded to show their understanding. They soundlessly crept around the fort, finding places to hide.


End file.
